After a four-month break, Revolution returned to NBC tonight, more electrifying than ever. 

"The Stand" posed more questions, featured more conflict, presented more power, included more weapons, and, overall, delivered more drama than ever before.

However, for all the firepower that are now in the hands of the rebels and the militia, the price of power is still paid in the same way: death. In a moment of joy and complete sadness that transaction was completed on the spring premiere. Danny was able to take down Monroe’s helicopter with the amplifier on board, but as the other chopper went down from its sudden loss of power, so did Danny as the bullets went flying through him.

It was uplifting to finally see the family back together after watching so many detours in the first half of the season. The emotional whiplash as I went from elation to yelling at my screen as Danny was gunned down... nothing could have possibly prepared me for it. While I’ve had fault with some of Revolution Season 1, at its core the show has always been a family drama. So to see Danny killed gutted me.

In hindsight, Danny’s death - while completely devastating to watch - is necessary for Charlie and Rachel. Something needed to be done to remove the barriers between them. Charlie is still holding resentment at Rachel for never coming back to them and she’s lost almost all of her family now. The comfort she gives Rachel as they are mourning Danny is the beginning step in healing their relationship.

But Rachel still holds a lot of answers and she’s been unwilling to give them up. Every time there’s a chance of learning a little more about Revolution’s past, Rachel’s past, or how the blackout came to be ,she ends up dodging the question. It’s even alluded to that Rachel’s faked her own death.

Then there’s Rachel cutting a hole in Danny’s corpse to remove a tracking device. Danny’s been through enough as it is - and he can’t even find some peace in death.

Jason, meanwhile, is finally standing up to Tom. He makes the distinction between fighting and butchering. Jason, for as much grief as he’s gotten in some Revolution reviews in the past, finally drew his line in the sand and stood by it. Contrast this with Tom, who is mostly redrawing the line wherever he can as a matter of survival, and Jason ends up being far more like the man Tom used to be than he is now.

If Jason is to join the rebels, then they have the potential to really do some damage against Miles’ sudden need for a Manifest Destiny battle for the Monroe Republic. Which could be the perfect counterweight to Flynn’s decision to contact the Monroe Republic.

Other thoughts:

• The place Grace is being held at is named “The Tower.”
• Since Flynn drove to Monroe, I would guess that The Tower and Militia aren’t very far apart.
• Miles and Rachel still have some kind of chemistry between them that is not being explained.
• Locking themselves in the walk in refrigerator as everything is blowing up around them is very Indiana Jones.

Grade Revolution's midseason premiere! Did it pass or fail?